The Shikon's Mistake
by MangaFreak15
Summary: InuxNaru crossover: The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. a BIG mistake. When Kagome accidentally wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddy bear, but an emotionless cold-hearted killer. ItachixKagome.
1. Chapter 1: The Grand Mistake

**Re-written: **Jan. 13, 2009

**Hey guys. I'm back. This is just a little something I came up with, so if I get a good number of reviews and I feel like continuing this, I'll write a new chapter. This was just upon a small whim of mine. I might continue if I get 30 or 40 reviews. No flames, please.**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

* * *

_**The Shikon's Mistake**_

_Ch. 1_

The Grand Mistake

* * *

It was a quiet, peaceful night in the Sengoku Jidai. The sky was dark blue, almost to the point of sheer black, and flurries of tiny stars were scattered across the great expanse of blue night. There was a full moon out, contrasting proudly against the dark sky, glowing luminous white against deep black.

Kagome, a very special seventeen-year old girl who had the ability to travel through time, sat quietly on the edge of the Bone-Eater's Well, contemplating the various things that had happened in her unbelievable adventures in the Sengoku Jidai. But as the months passed, she began to feel like a third wheel, someone who wasn't needed. Someone who had no place in the Sengoku Jidai.

Inuyasha may have been her crush once upon a time, but that sweet dream slowly slipped away with each passing day, for he had been seeing Kikyo almost every night. Kikyo was Inuyasha's lover before she died, but even during her undead life, she still harbored feelings for the half-demon. So Kagome was letting him go.

Miroku and Sango were unofficially an item, but they were become close. Miroku had already asked Sango to marry him after Naraku's reign was over, and to bear his children. She had agreed, although slapped away his wandering hand a few times during the proposal. Shippo, the little orphan fox demon, was like her son, but Kagome knew that once Naraku was dead, she would have to go back to her own era. She would never see him again if she did, unless he was still alive in Tokyo without her knowing.

Sighing softly, one hand slipped down to the clear glass bottle around her neck, fingering it quietly. The sparkling pink shards inside the bottle were some fragments of the powerful Shikon no Tama, a jewel created as a result of Midoriko combining her soul with a demon's and expelling it from her body.

The pretty, pink shards glowed at her merrily from inside the bottle. She stared at them, and began to think wistfully, _Even if it's broken, even though its pieces are scattered all around Japan, can the Shikon still grant wishes?_

She made a split-second decision. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? WRONG. Oh, if only she knew how much this one curious thought would change her life.

Grasping the bottle with both hands, she closed her eyes and began to wish with all her might.

_I wish that one day I would be able to find love. Someone who sees me for me, not anyone else, an imitation of anyone else, or merely just a tool to use and throw away when I'm useless. I wish for someone who is special in his own way, without taint. I want someone who is able to love me. I want someone who I am able to love without being betrayed. I want someone who can comfort me when I cry. I want someone I can lean on when situations are harsh. I want someone who is able to protect me when I need him to. I want love. Please, if you are listening to me, grant my wish._

When her eyes opened, nothing had happened, so Kagome shrugged. She wasn't too bitter about the fact that it didn't work, considering that the Shikon wasn't whole.

Suddenly, to her surprise, the Shikon shards began to glow a brilliant pink. A light burst out of the bottle and hovered in front of her. The ball of light then elongated, stretching wider and taller until it had formed a human shape. When the glow faded, Kagome realized that a young man had materialized in front of her, around eighteen years old.

They both stared at each other, shocked by the outcome of the events. Kagome noticed that the man's eyes were a hypnotic red, with three strange black commas inside of the eye, connected by a thin circle. But right now her mind was preoccupied with a single, miniscule thought.

_It . . . actually . . . worked?_

After minutes of tense silence and intense staring, the young man spoke up in a deep voice.

"Where am I?"

* * *

Uchiha Itachi. A renowned S-class shinobi who had killed off his entire clan in a single night and fled Konoha afterwards. He had joined the criminal organization Akatsuki in hope of escaping Orochimaru's clutches, for the insane snake sannin had wanted his fully-developed Sharingan. Partnered up with a scary-looking human-shark hybrid, he performed certain missions and was sent to track down and bring back the jinchuuriki of the strongest Bijuu alive, the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Currently he was lounging around on his bed in the Akatsuki quarters, bored out of his mind because there weren't any missions for him and Fishhead at the moment. The base was relatively quiet for once, instead of the usual distant sounds of Deidara blowing things up with his unusual exploding clay or Hidan shouting vulgar things from his room while performing his Jashin ritual.

Sighing, he rolled over and sat up. This wasn't right. He should be out doing missions with Kisame, not sitting around on his ass while waiting for the leader to call them to his office. He stood up and snatched his Akatsuki cloak off a nearby chair, throwing it around himself and buttoning up the front. Opening the door, he strode down the hallway at a brisk pace.

Itachi stopped in front of a large door that was the entrance to the leader's quarters. He knocked twice and spoke, "Leader-sama, I request a –"

Just then a shining pink and purple light surrounded his entire body and soft words echoed through his mind.

_I wish that one day I would be able to find love. Someone who sees me for me, not anyone else, an imitation of anyone else, or merely just a tool to use and throw away when I'm useless. I wish for someone who is special in his own way, without taint. I want someone who is able to love me. I want someone who I am able to love without being betrayed. I want someone who can comfort me when I cry. I want someone I can lean on when situations are harsh. I want someone who is able to protect me when I need him to. I want love. Please, if you are listening to me, grant my wish._

Just then Kisame came upon him and asked, "Whoa, Itachi-san, is that some new jutsu you –"

Itachi never got to hear the rest of Kisame's sentence, for his surroundings turned into a flurry of colors and he was whisked away from the shinobi world in a blur. He felt the brief sensation of floating through water, and then he felt as though he were flying. His surroundings turned into a tunnel of pink light that he hurtled through at the speed of light. Finally, he came to the end of the tunnel and landed on his feet, in front of a startled seventeen-year old girl with long black hair and wide blue eyes.

He stared at her, noting with interest the bright pink glow emanating from her hands in the form of a small glass bottle with small pink shards contained within it. The shards' glow died down, leaving them to stare at one another in tense silence.

At last Itachi grew tired to this staring contest and spoke to the girl, snapping her out of her stupor, "Where am I?"

The girl blinked once before his words registered in her head. "O-oh, I'm sorry," she said nervously. "Um, I summoned you here on accident with the broken Shikon shards, so you're here in the Sengoku Jidai of a country known as Japan."

Itachi contemplated on answering with his usual "Hn", but then decided against it. If this girl had the power to summon him to her, someone she didn't even know, from a different dimension she must be very powerful indeed. When she took her hands away from the bottle and let it hang from her neck, Itachi shivered at the subtle aura of power the shards emitted. Those shards were on par with the Kyuubi no Kitsune himself!

Suddenly he stiffened, feeling someone approaching at a rapid pace. He turned to the source of noise, his deep charcoal eyes landing on a young-looking youth with long white hair and, curiously enough, white dog ears upon his head and strange amber eyes with slits for pupils. The guy yelled loudly, "Kagome! There you are! You silly twit, why'd you run off?"

The girl's attention swiveled to the man. Kagome _is most likely this girl's name,_ Itachi thought.

Kagome said, "Oh, Inuyasha. It's just you. I thought you were with Kikyo."

Itachi assumed that _Inuyasha_ was the man's given name. However, he did not know who this "Kikyo" was.

Inuyasha snorted. "I _was_, until this bright pink light flashed from the well's direction and I told her that I was going to see what it was." He then noticed Itachi and dropped into a sloppy sword stance, his eyes narrowed and sharp. His sharp canine fangs were bared. "Kagome! Get away from him! I sense a demonic aura from his eyes!"

Kagome looked at the young man she had summoned purely out of curiosity and studied his red eyes. She turned back to the snarling man and said, "It's nothing to worry about, Inuyasha. He's human. His eyes are apparently a result of a demonic gift and it is causing him to go blind, but otherwise I believe he's harmless."

Itachi's widened slightly. How did she know he was going blind? Because he had the Sharingan on almost 24/7, the damage done to his vision was now to the point of being irreversible. Perhaps she had special healing powers that could heal his retina? And perhaps his optic nerve as well.

"He could be a demon in disguise!" Now it was Itachi's turn to death-glare the man. How dare he assume that he was a demon! He watched as the man drew out a rusty old sword that abruptly transformed into a huge fang. Itachi eyed the blade with interest. _Never in my life have I seen such an intriguing sword . . ._

"Inuyasha, he's not a –"

"Move, Kagome. I'm gonna mow him down and expose the demon he is! Kaze no – "

"Sit, boy!"

To Itachi's great amusement, the beaded necklace around Inuyasha's neck glowed white for a split-second before forcing him to face-plant into the ground. So the girl ultimately had control over him, did she? Itachi wondered what other amazing things she could do.

_Hm . . . my stay in this world will be very interesting indeed,_ he thought. _No more shinobi, no more Akatsuki breathing down my neck, no more foolish little brothers . . . yes, I shall enjoy my time here._

Kagome stood up and said, "Before we leave, what's your name?"

"Uchiha Itachi," his smooth voice answered.

Her cheeks reddened slightly. "Well, Itachi, we're going to head back to my friends' village just beyond the edge of this forest," she said. "We'll have to find out what to do with you, because I did summon you without your permission, after all."

"Very well," said Itachi.

Inuyasha's face popped out of the dirt and shouted, "Are you crazy?! This guy could be after the Shikon! He could be one of Naraku's minions!"

"Sit. I'll take responsibility for him, Inuyasha. I sense no evil malice in his aura, but he has killed for duty before."

Itachi was completely bewildered by how she knew these things. _She must be a sorceress,_ he decided.

"Besides, it's my fault he's here anyway. I summoned him here."

"WHAT?! YOU CRAZY –"

"Sit, boy!"

Itachi followed an irritated Kagome out of the clearing, smirking triumphantly at the gaping . . . uh, thing as they passed. Whatever he was, or it was, for the matter.

* * *

**Just an idea. The evil plot bunny attacked me. If I continue this, expect some big gaps between updates, because I'm a busy person and sometimes I can't come up with anything for a chapter. Please review. And please keep in mind that this will eventually end up as an ItachiKagome story.**

**

* * *

**

**Translations**

Akatsuki - dawn

Bijuu - tailed demon

Jinchuuriki - human sacrifice

Jutsu - technique

Kaze no Kizu - Scar of the Wind

Kyuubi no Kitsune - Nine-Tailed Fox Demon

Sannin - legendary ninja

Sengoku Jidai - Feudal Era

Sharingan - Copy-Wheel Mirror Eye

Shikon no Tama - Jewel of Four Souls

* * *

**Ja!**

**MangaFreak15**


	2. Chapter 2: Itachi's Ninjutsu

**Re-written: **August 5, 2009

**Gawk. Holy cheese in a rattrap! 53 REVIEWS FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER! OMG, IT'S A **_**MIRACLE**_**! Thank you SO MUCH! Ahem, now that the excitement's over, on to the next chapter.**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

* * *

_**The Shikon's Mistake**_

_Ch. 2_

Itachi's Ninjutsu

* * *

Inuyasha glared at the road ahead of them sourly. He was still inwardly bitching about the fact that Kagome let a total stranger join their group with a simple explanation of "oh, I summoned him, he's my responsibility now". And the rest of the group had the balls to believe her! The nerve of those . . . gah, idiots! Stupid Kagome. Just how could she not be affected by those creepy DEMONIC RED PINWHEELS OF DOOM?!

Miroku and Sango were behind him. They were standing rather close to each other as they walked. Shippo rode on Sango's right shoulder and Kirara, in her cute little kitty form, rode on Sango's left. Shippo often glanced back to make sure nothing happened to his "okaa-san".

Kagome and Itachi brought up the rear, walking side-by-side in silence. Kagome knew that the others were wary of Itachi, not only because of his strange looks, but the main cause for their concern was Itachi's extraordinary red eyes. Early on during their introduction, Itachi had explained the concept of the Sharingan. It was a special bloodline ability that allowed the user to see through illusions, copy an opponent's moves, and predict what an opponent was going to do before they did it. But of course the user may become blind from overuse of the doujutsu.

Itachi gazed around the new world, noting how different it was from his world. There were smaller villages and rice fields. Kagome had informed him that unlike his world, this one was teeming with demons and the main source of evil was a half-demon named Naraku.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he glanced at the petite woman walking at his side. She was a complete enigma to him. She knew he was partially blind and the Sharingan was a demonic trait, yet did nothing but defend him from her companions. A strange woman indeed. And that indecent green skirt of hers left nothing to imagination. Anyone could look and see the long, beautiful legs with creamy, supple thighs.

Suddenly he felt a strange sensation crawl along his skin, making the tiny hairs on the back of his neck raise. The group halted and faced the direction of the weak, but evil aura. The half-demon drew his sword and brandished it threateningly. The woman drew an arrow from her quiver and strung it to her short red bow, pointing it in that direction.

He was surprised when a hideous demon emerged from the trees. It was scaly and blue, with the head of an eagle and the body of a giant snake. Its long forked tongue slipped out as it hissed at them, **"I sense the shards! Give me the shards of the Shikon!"**

Inuyasha snorted. "The hell we'll hand them over to some ugly demon like you! KAZE NO KIZU!" he shouted, bringing his sword down.

Itachi watched in interest and quiet awe as five yellow streaks burst from the sword and tore up the ground. The attack reached the demon and tore it two, decimating it into chunks of greenish-blue flesh. Kagome put away the unused arrow and walked forward to a particularly foul-smelling chunk of demon flesh. Her nimble fingers plucked something glittering and purple from a puddle of the demon's blood. Instantly the shard turned a soft pink color.

Then they continued their journey as though nothing happened at all.

* * *

Kisame had been walking along the hallway, looking for his partner because he wasn't in his room, when he spotted Itachi in the hallway, glowing bright pink and purple. "Whoa, Itachi-san, is that some new jutsu you –" he began, but was abruptly cut off when Itachi vanished. Yes, _vanished._

"Leader-sama!" he called loudly, banging on the door.

A gruff voice came from within. "What do you want, Kisame?"

"Itachi-san disappeared in a flash of pink light!"

"What hell kind of shit are you spouting now?" a voice asked from behind him. "No fucker can disappear like that."

"Shut up, Hidan."

The door Kisame was standing in front of opened and a pair of eerily glowing orange eyes peered out. "Disappeared, you say?" a soft voice said. "How interesting, I do believe Itachi was outside of my door a minute before."

"Yes, I saw him too," Kisame said, gesturing wildly to the empty space. "I thought he was doing a jutsu because he was all pink and glowing, but then he vanished into thin air!"

"And you think that couldn't have been a fucking jutsu?" Hidan asked flatly.

"It wasn't," the mysterious leader of Akatsuki mused. "There is no chakra residue left here."

"I can help to track him. **I believe he has been summoned**," both halves of Zetsu responded.

"Summoned? Summoned where? Who the hell would summon Itachi?" Kisame asked, bewildered.

The pair of glowing orange eyes closed briefly. "It matters not as long as we find him. Zetsu. Do your work and report to me when you find him."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

* * *

A tall man with spiked white hair made his way discreetly through the streets, glancing unabashedly at the women dotting the streets. However, he was here for a different reason. His information network had recently caught a snippet of odd and interesting news that would have to be investigated immediately.

He opened the door to Tsunade's office without knocking. The blonde Sannin glanced up from her piles of paperwork, an eyebrow raised when she saw her old teammate.

"Jiraiya. What brings you here?" the buxom blonde questioned.

"Ah, Tsunade-hime. Your rack is as big as ever," Jiraiya joked.

He quickly dodged to the side when an empty sake bottle smashed into the wall from where he had been standing a minute ago.

"That's not the real reason you're here, is it, you pervert?" Tsunade hissed.

Jiraiya straightened up and a serious look entered his face. "Look, Tsunade. I've been tracing Akatsuki's whereabouts for a while now and it appears that one of my spies has gathered some strange information concerning Uchiha Itachi," he explained.

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Correct. It appears that Uchiha Itachi has vanished without a trace."

Tsunade's hazel-brown eyes widened. She abruptly stood up and slammed her palms down on the desk, making the stacks of paper jump and quiver.

"He _vanished?"_ she repeated incredulously.

The hermit of Mount Myobokuzan nodded. "According to Hoshigaki Kisame, the S-class missing nin from Kirigakure and a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, his partner was standing in front of their leader's door when he suddenly glowed with strange pink and purple light. It was thought that he was doing a jutsu, but he vanished, and there was no chakra residue left behind," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade sat down heavily. "That means he could be anywhere," she sighed in exasperation. "Anywhere meaning any time, place, or even a different dimension."

* * *

The Inu-Tachi had not yet trekked down the road for twenty minutes before a mutant frog demon interrupted their journey. **"Give me the shards!"** it croaked, fixing its bulging yellow eyes upon Kagome.

The members of the group prepared to fight, but Itachi stopped them by stepping up and holding out his arm. "I . . . will take care of this," he stated.

"Are you crazy?! You'll become frog feed in no time!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Now move it!"

"Wait, Inuyasha," Miroku said quickly, clapping a hand down on the half-demon's shoulder. "We should let him fight, therefore we will at least have an insight on his abilities."

"But –" Inuyasha protested, upset that the mysterious man was stealing his spotlight.

Miroku gave him a hard glare. Inuyasha grumbled about stupid monks and stupid Kagome before stepping back to allow the man room.

The frog demon gave an enraged croak when his command wasn't met. **"Human, you shall serve as a great nutrient to me,"** it rumbled, a long, pink rubbery tongue shooting out, targeting Itachi.

With speed and years of experience, Itachi flashed through the hand seals for the Uchihas' favorite technique (and the "test" for adulthood). Creating a circle around his mouth with his thumb and index finger, he blew out his technique, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The Inu-Tachi stared with slack jaws as a huge fireball flew from Itachi's mouth and fried the disgusting vermin to crispy bits. Kagome was the first to recover from her shock when she saw a glimmer of purple fall through the air.

She picked up the Shikon shard, purifying it to a soft shade of pink, before turning to Itachi and asking, "What _was_ that?"

"Yes, I would like to know as well. I've never seen such a curious thing done by a human," Miroku admitted.

"That was so cool!" Shippo shouted excitedly.

"It was a technique of my native land," Itachi answered monotonously.

"Can all the people of your land do this?" Sango asked, surveying the damage with awe.

"To some extent, yes. In my world, there are two types of beings. The civilians . . . and the ninjas."

"Wait, you mean those people that wear black body suits and face masks and carry a sword around while killing for hire?" Kagome asked.

"I do not know where you heard such a biased version," Itachi replied, clearly amused by her description of ninjas, "but we are not like that."

"Do your _ninjas_ have the same eyes as you?" Inuyasha sneered.

"Only two. The rest are dead, as of a massacre that occurred six years ago by my hand."

The group all stared at him and backed away. "You – you would _kill_ your own kind just because they had the same eyes as you?" Inuyasha growled, unsheathing the Tetsusaiga once more. "You bastard! I knew there was something wrong with you!"

"Inuyasha, sit."

_Wham!_

"KAGOME! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" the dog-eared half-demon screamed at the girl.

"We should at least hear him out first," Kagome snapped harshly. She turned to Itachi. "Is there a reason?"

"Our clan was prestigious and renowned for our famous _Kekkei Genkai_, the Sharingan. However, the clan was corrupt with power and my father planned to lead a coup d'état against the village for indirectly blaming the Uchiha clan for the attack of a very powerful fox demon twelve years ago. I was used as a double agent, and I was given a mission by my village leader to kill everyone in the clan. I spared my little brother's life."

"Wait a second, you have demons in your world too?" Kagome asked.

"Only nine. They are called Bijuu, and all of them are sealed within humans, which we called _jinchuuriki_," Itachi answered.

"Human sacrifice," Miroku murmured.

"Yes. I am a part of a ninja criminal organization called Akatsuki," Itachi said.

"Tell me, what do your kind of ninjas do?" Kagome inquired.

Itachi regarded her warily. While he was sure that he was the only ninja here, he didn't trust them completely yet. He answered in a clipped tone, "Like you have said before, we are hired and we receive pay for fulfilling that mission when it is completed. Most B-rank missions and above require the use of _jutsu_: either ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu."

"Oh, so what are those?"

"Ninjutsu is a solid attack, normally by using elements. Genjutsu is the art of illusions. Taijutsu is the use of physical attacks."

Shippo perked up when he heard Itachi say illusions. "Hey! I like to use illusions!" he said, hopping to the strange man's shoulder. "Teach me please?"

Itachi shook his head. "I cannot give out techniques as I please," he replied. "These jutsu were created purely for human purposes."

Shippo looked crestfallen. "But I can try," the young fox demon insisted, aquamarine orbs shining brightly. "I'm a fox demon and we're good with illusions!"

_A fox demon . . . like the Kyuubi no Kitsune . . . _Itachi mused, glancing down at the hopeful little demon with a blank expression. _But compared to the nine-tails, he is but a mere child._

"Hn. No."

Shippo sighed dejectedly and hopped off his shoulder and into Kagome's arms. "Shippo, you have to understand that everyone has secrets they need to keep. Itachi is no different," Kagome explained softly.

"Yes, I understand," Shippo grumbled.

And the group set off without another word.

* * *

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She needed some good, cold sake soon, but first she had to inform the village of Itachi's mysterious disappearance. She sent Shizune, a few Jounin and ANBU to round up all the available ninjas and prepare them for a big meeting.

Once they were all comfortably standing together in a large training field, Tsunade stood up at the front, trying to calm her frazzled nerves.

Naruto piped up from the front of the crowd, "Tsunade-baachan! Why is everybody here?"

Tsunade resisted the urge to punch him in the head for the "baa-chan" comment. "Shut up and let me talk," she glowered.

"Hokage-sama, this news must be very important to call us out here!" an irate Hiashi growled.

"It is. Jiraiya has recently informed me of some very intriguing news that happened within the Akatsuki base."

"Are they on the move again?" Shiranui Genma asked, biting down on the pick he always had in his mouth.

"Not only that, but it seems that one of their members has gone missing and they have briefly postponed their searches in order to pinpoint his location."

"Who is it?" said Kakashi.

"According to Jiraiya's spies, _Uchiha Itachi_ has vanished."

* * *

**All right, the second chapter ends here. I am very happy that we are now at a grand total of 114 reviews. Thank you very much.**

**I'm very sorry for the delay in making new chapters, but I am a busy person and I have multiple stories to create chapters for, so sometimes my train of thought messes up.**

**Thank you to all the wonderful reviews I receive and I hope you review again. Stay tuned for the next chapter (which hopefully will come out soon, but school is beginning in less than two weeks). Once again, please do not flame me. If you have any specific complaints, please PM me.**

**For those of you who are re-reading this, you may have noticed that I decided not to have Itachi teach Shippo, because I thought that would not be the best choice.**

**Translations:**

**Baa-chan – grandmother/old woman**

**Bijuu – Tailed Demon**

**Doujutsu – eye technique**

**Hime – princess**

**Jinchuuriki – human sacrifice**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**

**Kaze no Kizu – Wind Scar**

**Kekkei Genkai – bloodline ability**

**Kirigakure – Village Hidden in the Mist**

**Kyuubi no Kitsune – Nine-Tailed Fox Demon**

**Sharingan – Copy Wheel Mirror Eye**

**Shikon no Tama – Jewel of Four Souls**

**Tetsusaiga/Tessaiga – Steel Cleaving Fang**

**See you later.**

**MangaFreak15**


	3. Chapter 3: Naraku and Kikyo

**Written: **August 30, 2009

**Blink. 127 reviews. Wow, thanks!**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

* * *

_**The Shikon's Mistake**_

_Ch. 3_

Naraku and Kikyo

* * *

Deep within an old Japanese castle, a man with red eyes and wavy black hair sat in a bare room. He held up a golem doll, carefully wrapping a thin strand of hair around it and setting it upright on the windowsill.

"Go."

A figure in a white baboon pelt appeared in the room and exited. The man smirked devilishly to himself. "Soon that foolish girl will no longer be in Inuyasha's possession," he whispered.

Eerie laughter echoed through the manor.

Within her room, the wind sorceress shivered. "What is he up to now?" she murmured.

* * *

Night befell the land and soon the group set up camp for the night. Inuyasha left to hunt food for his group whilst Miroku gathered firewood.

Inuyasha attempted to threaten Itachi should anything happen to his pack while he was gone (especially Kagome), but the man shook him off and left the irate hanyou to stomp away.

The night was quiet, and when Miroku came back there was the occasional crackling of flames, maybe a resounding slap from Sango here and there.

When Inuyasha came back with a few rabbits, he informed them of the location of a hot spring. The girls immediately gathered their bathing supplies and left, Sango threatening to hit Miroku if he so much as _stepped_ towards the hot springs.

Of course Miroku tried to sneak off to take a peek at the two naked girls, only to find himself hanging suspended from a tree branch, courtesy of Itachi. "Hey!" the monk protested.

Itachi simply looked at him and said, "I do not appreciate your brazen ideals."

The girls came back twenty minutes, giggling when they saw Miroku hanging from a tree glaring at Itachi. "You can let him down now," Kagome told Inuyasha.

The hanyou snorted, "It wasn't _me_ who hung him up there."

Sango looked at Itachi in surprise, who was staring into the fire with a far-away look. Kagome asked, "Did you prevent Miroku from peeking, Itachi?"

The mentioned man looked up, as if just noticing their arrival. "Hn," was their reply, but Kagome understood.

"Thank you."

Itachi went back to staring at the fire.

Suddenly everyone in the group tensed. Inuyasha laid a hand on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga and snarled viciously at the figure emerging from the cover of the trees.

"Naraku!"

"Hello, Inuyasha."

Itachi watched the man in the baboon pelt with narrowed eyes. He was a clone, a replica of the real person. Yet the energy circulation system was completely different.

The empty gaze landed on Itachi. "And who is this?" the man named Naraku hissed.

"You are not real."

The abrupt accusation surprised the entire group, including the golem itself. "So Naraku, too scared to do your own work?" Inuyasha said, raising his sword. "Kaze no Kizu!"

The puppet jumped out of the way of the attack. Big roots grew out from where its feet should've been and the attacks began.

While Itachi and Inuyasha took to the frontline, Miroku acted as Inuyasha's back-up and also defended the girls. Kagome discreetly knocked an arrow to her bow and fixed her target upon the puppet, looking for an opportunity.

"Remember to target its chest, Inuyasha," called Sango.

The hanyou nodded, a sign that he understood. Itachi, however, comprehended and acted out the message much faster.

The puppet watched in interest as the mysterious man made hand seals in a split second and blew out a giant fireball, completely incinerating the puppet in one blow.

The real Naraku jolted in shock at the sheer power the man emanated.

When Itachi finished his attack, all that was left was a smoldering pile of ash and rock. The golem puppet was charred black and rendered no longer useable.

"Well," Miroku began, cutting the tension, "at least we won't be bothered for the rest of the night."

How wrong he was.

* * *

At some point during the night while everyone else except Itachi was asleep, Inuyasha slipped away, seeing the white forms of his old love's _shinidamuu_. Itachi watched as Kagome's eyes opened and gazed at Inuyasha's empty spot sadly.

"What troubles you?" he asked, careful not to awaken the others.

Kagome jolted upon hearing his quiet voice and turned to look at him. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and sat nervously next to the silent man, gazing into the flickering fire morosely.

"Do you see them?" she murmured, looking up at the circling silvery-white forms that glided above the treetops.

Itachi replied, "Yes."

"At the beginning of our journey, when it was just Inuyasha, Shippo and I, an old demon witch named Urasue resurrected my incarnation, a woman named Kikyo, that Inuyasha loved fifty years ago," Kagome explained. "Now whenever she comes around, she has those soul stealers with her, because she only has a small portion of my soul. If she wants to keep living, she needs to feed on the souls of dead maidens. Whenever Inuyasha sees those soul stealers, he always goes to her. I don't understand why he doesn't see how much he's breaking me." Kagome began to cry silently.

Itachi was more than surprised. He did not know how to comfort people, so he awkwardly held her to his chest and let her soak his clothes with her tears while he absorbed the information.

* * *

The crowd was shocked into silence.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Sasuke hissed, his fists clenching hard.

"I meant what I said, Uchiha," Tsunade said. "Uchiha Itachi is reported to be missing from the Akatsuki headquarters."

"But how?" Sakura asked.

Jiraiya stepped up. "From what my spies have told me, Itachi was last seen standing in front of the Akatsuki leader's door before vanishing into pink light. Hoshigaki Kisame was the last person to see him," he said.

"Pink light?" the crowd murmured.

Naruto was bewildered. "How do you know it's not a jutsu, Ero-sennin?" he asked.

The man twitched noticeably at the nickname. "Brat," he grumbled, "you should respect your elders!"

"Just answer the question, Ero-sennin!"

Another twitch.

Deciding to ignore the stupid blonde for now, Jiraiya said, "There was no trace of chakra residue left behind, therefore it could not have been a jutsu."

"I'm sure Itachi can hide his own chakra," Sasuke intoned dryly.

"While chakra is simple to hide, the residue left behind is much harder to cover," the toad sannin explained.

"Tch."

"So what does that pink light mean?" a jounin asked.

"We don't know, but we can guess," Tsunade said. "I would assume that he has been sent to a different dimension, but we all know what assuming does."

The crowd nodded.

* * *

When Inuyasha came back to the camp, he growled angrily at the sight of Kagome sleeping in the man's lap. "Let go of her, bastard!" he yelled, successfully waking his group up.

"Mm, Inuyasha, what's all the fuss about?" Miroku yawned.

"That stupid bastard has Kagome in his lap!"

The camp came wide awake.

Miroku grinned lecherously at the sight, leering at Itachi while saying, "Ooh, what have you been doing?"

_Bam!_

Sango's fist came crashing down upon his head and knocking him to the ground.

Itachi's eye twitched at the implications.

Inuyasha drew his Tetsusaiga.

Kagome stirred.

Everyone froze when they heard Kagome's waking sounds. She let out a small yawn and sat up, unaware that she was still seated in Itachi's lap. Her hands released his cloak as she stretched like a cat.

It was then that she realized that everyone was staring at her, slack-jawed. "What?" she asked, leaning back against Itachi's chest.

She nearly jumped in shock when she was lifted off what she had been sitting on and set upon the ground on her feet.

Kagome whirled around and blushed profusely when she realized that she had fallen asleep on the man she had summoned. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized, bowing to him.

"Hn."

"Care to explain what you were doing with him, wench?" Inuyasha growled.

Kagome's eyes hardened. "I think it is rather self-explanatory. Not like you're one to talk when you're always off with Kikyo," she said.

"But you belong to me!"

Kagome's eyes flashed, and for reasons that he didn't know himself, Itachi let loose a low growl of fury at the hanyou.

"SIT!"

Inuyasha was smashed into the dirt.

* * *

**Hey guys. Now, this chapter wasn't very long, but I hope it was satisfactory. I'm really sorry about not updating sooner, and most likely I will have some extremely long gaps between updates due to increasing homework and heat. **

**Translations****:**

**Akatsuki – dawn**

**Ero-sennin – perverted hermit**

**Hanyou – half-demon**

**Kaze no Kizu – Wind Scar**

**Sannin – three ninjas**

**Shikon no Tama – Jewel of Four Souls**

**Shinidamuu – soul stealers**

**Tetsusaiga (Tessaiga) – Steel Cleaving Fang**

**Have a good day and happy reading!**

**MangaFreak15**


	4. Chapter 4: The Search and the Healing

**Written: **December 21, 2009

**Nice. 170 reviews. I didn't expect so many reviews after abandoning the story for so long, but I'm pretty damn happy about it. Thanks for your support.**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

* * *

**_The Shikon's Mistake_**

_Ch. 4_

The Search and the Healing

* * *

It was late afternoon before Tsunade and Jiraiya formulated a rough plan. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was the best plan of action for the time being.

Thus ending with Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru and a few Jounin standing in her office awaiting orders. Jiraiya, of course, would be the leader of this little investigation unit (Sasuke, upon learning that he wasn't assigned, muttered darkly about short blondes and being too blunt for investigation).

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said as they leaped through the thick mass of trees that made up Konoha's large forest. "Why wasn't Sasuke allowed to come?"

"As useful as his skills could be," Kakashi replied, looking at his student from his peripheral vision, "we believe it best that Sasuke not come in contact with anything having to do with his brother."

"That does make sense, but if what Jiraiya-sama said is true and Uchiha Itachi really has disappeared, there should be no problem," Shikamaru pointed out.

"True, but one can never be too careful," one of the other Jounin commented. "This is Uchiha Itachi we're dealing with."

The others readily agreed, but remained in relative silence for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

"Come on, Inuyasha! You can't still be mad!" Kagome exclaimed in exasperation as she caught her friend glaring at Itachi nastily.

Inuyasha sputtered indignantly, "You were in his _lap!_ I bet that bastard –" He was cut off by a furious look from Kagome.

Itachi merely raised a fine ebony eyebrow. "You can be assured that I do not partake in such disgusting acts," he said coolly.

Inuyasha just sneered at him, "I bet you do."

Kagome sighed. She nodded her head resolutely and marched over to the two and soundly smacked Inuyasha in the back of the head. He glared at her, but his dark look quickly changed as his brain registered the ominous raincloud over Kagome's head.

"Inuyasha," she hissed through gritted teeth, "SIT."

The half-demon was pulled down to the earth with a loud thud, groaning as his face made contact with the hard ground. As soon as the subjugation spell wore off, he jumped up and was about to cuss the shit out of Kagome when he smelt a familiar odor.

"Wolf," he growled.

Right on cue, a blue whirlwind zipped up the path and dissipated in front of Kagome, revealing a handsome young man grasping Kagome's hands within his. "Dear Kagome, how I have missed you!" he cried, nuzzling her hands.

"Get your hands off her, you mangy wolf!" Inuyasha shouted.

The wolf-demon stood up to his full height, eyes narrowed at the hot-tempered half-demon. "I don't listen to orders from lower species," he said.

Kagome wrench her hands from his grip and elbowed him harshly. "Koga!" she reprimanded.

Koga understood that the insult was just a bit too far, but . . .

It was so soft that he almost didn't pick up on it, but he did hear the words, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu" before he saw them.

"Whoa!" Koga leaped into the air to avoid being smoked by multiple fire balls that blasted out of nowhere. He looked at the group and was astonished to find a new member of the group. The narrow, blood-red gaze of the man made Koga inwardly shudder a little.

"Itachi!" Koga looked back to find that Kagome seemed almost . . . happy?

The silent man acknowledged Kagome by walking to her side and glaring harshly at the wolf demon. Koga scratched the back of his head and turned to Kagome, "Say, Kagome, who is that guy?"

Kagome looked down to the ground, nervously wringing her hands. "His name is Uchiha Itachi," she replied quietly. "I used the incomplete Shikon no Tama to summon him here from another dimension."

Koga blinked. "Another dimension?" he wondered.

Inuyasha snorted, "Yeah, Kagome probably wasn't thinking straight."

Kagome glared at Inuyasha and retorted, "This coming from the person who never thinks straight!"

The half-demon glared back. "Excuse me?!"

Koga slapped his knee and roared laughter aloud, "Nice one, Kagome! I bet dog-breath here couldn't think to save his puny little life!"

"Hey!"

Itachi stood quietly in the background next to a sighing trio consisting of Sango, Miroku and Shippo. "Don't worry, Itachi, this happens far too often," Shippo groaned, shaking his head. "Idiots."

Both Koga and Inuyasha heard the insult and whirled around to advance on the small demon, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?!" they yelled, simultaneously attempting to punch Shippo in the head.

"Inuyasha, sit!"

_Bam!_

_Whap!_

Koga face-planted into the ground as Itachi smacked him in the back of the neck to prevent him from hitting Shippo. The group looked surprised. "Oh. Thank you, Itachi," Kagome said, flushing lightly as the man nodded at her.

* * *

Night befell the land of shinobi. Jiraiya had picked out a spot for them to camp out during the night and declared that he would take the first watch. The others yawned and disappeared into their tents, ready to sleep the day's stress off.

Jiraiya sat down on a hollow log and began to think. Pink light was extremely abnormal for a jutsu, so of course that ruled out the possibility of the missing nin performing a jutsu. Also, the spy reported that Uchiha Itachi had completely vanished. However, the Shunshin no Jutsu should not be pink, therefore eliminating the possibility of Itachi teleporting to another place. How odd. Perhaps it was a special type of Summoning Jutsu? But Summoning Jutsu were only used for shinobi to call on their summons, mainly animals, from the space of another dimension . . . that's it!

Jiraiya assumed that Itachi had been accidentally summoned to a different dimension. _Come to think of it, Tsunade mentioned that possibility earlier,_ he mused.

The night passed peacefully without interruptions, with the shifts being switched every couple hours.

The next morning, once everyone was up and packed, the remains of the campfire extinguished and smothered into the dirt, the group set off once again.

Unknown to them, a shadowed figure in the trees watched them, one black eye and one white tracking their movements with ease.

* * *

Kagome and Itachi were down by a river near the campsite. Kagome was nervous about using what knowledge she'd gained in order to heal Itachi's eyes.

"Can you turn off that ability?" she asked. "Your red eyes, I mean."

Itachi nodded, closing his eyes and deactivating the Sharingan, something that he hadn't done for a long time. When he opened them again, Kagome was pleasantly surprised to find herself gazing into a pair of exotic obsidian eyes.

"Now, please wash your eyes with the water from the river," she instructed, taking a bowl from the pack she carried around and filling it with water. She filtered all the impurities out with her miko powers.

Once Itachi had done as she asked, she told him to drink the water. Although he was confused, Itachi complied anyway.

"Close your eyes. This might feel weird, okay? Don't try to kill me."

Kagome placed her hands on Itachi's chest, blushing as she felt the smooth, firm muscles beneath her fingertips. She activated her powers and began the process of filtering her healing ability into Itachi's bloodstream. The holy water in Itachi's stomach responded and supported the process by cleansing out the taints in Itachi's internal organs. As the holy power in Itachi's bloodstream gradually flowed into Itachi's eyes, the healing ability began to reconnect the damaged tissue, also correcting the damage to the retina, the optic nerve, the lens and cornea.

Itachi fought the urge to twitch every time he felt a small sting from Kagome's miko abilities attempting to purge the demonic taint from his eyes. Kagome also struggled to keep her powers from purifying the tainted power out of Itachi's eyes, a considerably difficult feat to do.

When the process finished, Kagome collapsed into Itachi's lap, too exhausted to care about where she was resting (although her profusely blushing face said otherwise).

When Itachi opened his eyes, he was delighted to find that his vision was no longer fuzzy or having random black spots dotting it. He glanced down at the tired, drowsy female laying on him, sweat visible on her brow, skin flushed from exertion.

"Thank you." And that was one of the only times Itachi ever said those two words.

Kagome's unique-colored eyes fluttered open, acknowledging him, before the eyelids shut and her body went limp. Itachi stood up, attempting to shift the sleeping girl to his back so it would be easier to carry her back to the camp.

Kagome's head was jostled a bit, lolling to the side during the transition, but she did not wake. Itachi assumed she was probably very tired from healing him, so he would let her rest.

Meanwhile, Kanna sat on a bough not too far away, holding up her mirror to see the events that transpired between the miko and the mysterious stranger. Naraku would be pleased.

* * *

**Gah. Short, I'm afraid, but a chapter, nonetheless. Please review, no flames or harsh criticisms without reason. **

**Translations**

**Jutsu - technique**

**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu – Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**

**Konoha/Konohagakure – Village Hidden in the Leaves**

**Sensei – teacher**

**Sharingan – mirror-wheel eye**

**Shikon no Tama – Jewel of Four Souls**

**Shunshin no Jutsu – Teleportation Technique**

**Thank you for reading, please come again when the next chapter shows up (hopefully within four months).**

**MangaFreak15**


	5. Chapter 5: Itachi's Power

**Written: **May 10, 2010

**Damn. I love you guys. I know I don't deserve so many reviews, but hell! You guys are awesome. We're almost to 200 reviews and this is only the fifth chapter! It's time I got off my lazy ass and started on this anyway. I'm a huge procrastinator. Besides, my birthday's coming up and I wanted to try and finish the next chapters for this story, Wanton Faith, and Haunted House, even if they are kinda short.**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

**Warning: Inuyasha has a giant potty mouth.**

* * *

_**The Shikon's Mistake**_

_Ch. 5_

Itachi's Power

* * *

The castle was eerily dark when Kanna made her way back to her master's domain. The sky was a deep, dark, tainted purple that highlighted the glorious evil taint that thinly hovered through the air. The tainted half-demon himself, Naraku, was sitting cross-legged on the castle steps in his baboon pelt, waiting patiently for her to report. His baboon mask had been taken off and it lay on the floor beside him. His narrow red eyes spotted her blank white form as she walked closer, still holding her precious mirror to her chest.

"Kanna," he acknowledged when she stopped in front of him. "What have you observed?"

Her voice was hardly a whisper that slithered through the air as she spoke, "Naraku-sama, the strange man that accompanies them on their quest is protective of Kagome, the girl you want to get rid of."

"Show me." His voice was like thunder in the silence.

Kanna's mirror gleamed with demonic light. The surface shimmered slightly, showing the shard-hunting group walking through a forest.

Naraku immediately spotted the strange man that he had seen during his last encounter with the annoying group of pests. A handsome young man with cold, obsidian eyes. Naraku shivered in delight. He recognized the look in those eyes. A killer's eyes. He was walking next to the silly human wench that was supposedly Kikyo's reincarnation. Although the man's face was passive, Naraku could tell he was listening attentively to the girl talk while remaining alert of his surroundings.

Naraku's face split into an evil smirk. He stood up abruptly, his red eyes gleaming in a way only known to men who scheme often.

He would turn that man against his new companions. As he was already a killer, he should have no problem murdering the young priestess. Then he would turn his sights to that miserable excuse of the priestess his human part once loved, Kikyo. No one would stand in his way anymore. The man was powerful after all, if he was able to incinerate one of his golems with no problem.

Kanna quietly headed to her room, ignoring the sound of the evil laughter that rang through the courtyard behind her.

* * *

The group of shinobi leaped from tree to tree, each absorbed into his own thoughts, but still paying attention to their surroundings. Jiraiya motioned for Neji to take the lead with his Byakugan so he could talk quickly with Kakashi. The Hyuuga branch member complied, the veins bulging out around his eyes as he activated his clan's _Kekkei Genkai._

"Byakugan!"

The impressive near-360 degree vision helped Neji to scan for possible enemies. A black and white shadow in his vision somewhere behind them caused him to turn slightly to see the shadow better. His eyes widened a fraction when he saw a strange man with a Venus fly-trap head melded with a tree, watching them carefully.

Neji did not cancel his Byakugan, but he had to double back to his team leader to relay the important information. "Jiraiya-sama," he said quietly, part of his vision still watching the ugly plant man, "we are being watched by a man with a Venus fly-trap head."

Jiraiya cursed. "Damn it, they're already on the move," he said.

"Who is, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked.

"The Akatsuki," Jiraiya said. "We have to move. Come on!"

The shinobi increased their speed. Neji kept watching the strange plant man, who kept his eyes on them for a while before melting into the tree. Neji could sense his chakra moving _through_ the tree, down into the soil and coming after them.

"He's tracking us," Neji reported.

"Should we fight him?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll kick his butt!" Naruto declared loudly. Jiraiya smacked him over the head. "Oi!"

"You can't fight him, brat. They're after you," the Sannin told him. "Since we are heading for their lair and we are being watched, we can assume they already know we're coming. We're going to have to prepare for a big fight ahead. If any of you do something reckless or stupid, you _will_ be killed. There are no exceptions." The last part of the sentence was directed mostly towards Naruto.

His cheeks puffed out a little. The happy-go-lucky grin that usually adorned the blonde's face was replaced by an indignant look. "I can take care of myself, Ero-sennin!" he said.

Kakashi ran next to his student and spoke softly, "He wants to make sure you won't die. We're all worried about you because of the demon inside of you."

"No sweat, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, clenching his fists with determination. "I won't die. They won't get me."

"Just be careful, Naruto," the Jounin replied. "You never know what might happen."

"Perhaps we should split up," one of the other Jounin suggested.

"No," Shikamaru cut in before Jiraiya could respond. "If we stay together, we have less chance of being taken out easily. If we split up, they could send another member to deal with the other group, and even with one of the legendary Sannin and Kakashi to help us, Naruto will be taken while we're busy fighting."

"Well then," Kakashi said. "Shikamaru and I will deal with the Akatsuki member. You guys go on ahead. We'll catch up later."

The two of them stopped on the next tree branch. Naruto turned to looked worriedly over his shoulder. "They'll be fine, Naruto," Jiraiya reassured him.

Naruto still wasn't sure, but to assure himself, he shouted to them as they moved further apart, "Kakashi-sensei! Shikamaru! You guys better come back alive!"

The thumbs-up Kakashi gave him lifted his spirits.

"Let's go, Ero-sennin!" the orange-clad genin said, brimming with new energy.

Jiraiya could only chuckle.

* * *

The Inu-tachi group was on the move again. Inuyasha was still glaring at Itachi, who was completely unfazed by the intimidation tactic. Poor Inuyasha. He lacked the ability to intimidate people, except perhaps Shippo.

Kagome walked beside the man, smiling to herself as she remembered what happened the night before. A faint pink blush coated her cheeks as she recalled the feel of Itachi's muscles beneath her fingers.

Unfortunately Inuyasha also noticed her blush. His mood darkened again. What the hell gave that fucking stranger the right to turn Kagome into some blushing, lovesick puddle of romance goo?! Damn him. He would just not stand for this. It was unthinkable! Kagome was in love with _him_. Him, Inuyasha. Not that fucking Itachi. Definitely not. Right?

"Oi, Kagome!" he barked, gaining the school girl's attention.

"What is it, Inuyasha? I can't sense any shards yet," she said.

"What the hell are you blushing for?"

Inuyasha's unexpected question made her relieve last night all over again and her cheeks grew hot in seconds. "I . . . I . . ." she stammered, turning away from the man walking next to her and refusing to meet Inuyasha's eyes. "I – it's nothing."

Inuyasha's narrowed into slits and he threw Itachi a nasty, soul-rending glare (which apparently had no effect on the stoic shinobi). "You!" he hissed, rudely pointing a finger towards him. "What the fuck did you do to Kagome?!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded. "Don't be so rude!"

"Rude?! Wha – are you fucking kidding me?!" the half-demon sputtered. "That bastard totally like turned you into some girly wench!"

"SIT!" Kagome growled.

Inuyasha kissed the ground.

"Kukukuku . . ." Everyone was suddenly on guard as a familiar evil laugh echoed around them. "Worshipping the soil now, are we, Inuyasha?"

As soon as the subjugation spell wore off, Inuyasha jumped up and roared, "Naraku! Where are you, you bastard?"

The figure in the baboon pelt emerged from the foliage. "I have no interest in you today. Run along now and leave the strange man behind," he said.

"I'm going to take you down, Naraku," Inuyasha said, drawing his Tetsusaiga. "Even if I would gladly leave that fucker behind, I'm not going to run away from an opportunity to kill you!"

"What do you want with Itachi?" Kagome demanded, drawing an arrow from her quiver and stringing it with her bow. She aimed for the man in the baboon pelt.

"Telling him my name was unnecessary," Itachi said in a quiet voice. Kagome blushed in mortification at her mistake.

"I would have found it out eventually," Naraku replied airily. He extended a hand towards the stolid shinobi. "Shall we go someplace else?"

"Whatever you have to offer me does not interest me in the slightest," Itachi said monotonously. "Power is of no concern. Fools and cowards who must use a bauble to achieve power are weak, stupid, and corrupt. However strong I am I became through hard work and tactics. The Shikon is but a trinket which I do not claim an interest to. Begone. You are in the way."

"Fool," Naraku sneered. "You are passing up such a wonderful offer."

"I have already told you the reason why I do not wish to use a mere bauble to gain power," Itachi replied.

"Oh, but a complete Shikon can give you so much more," Naraku said, adopting a persuasive tone. He held up his share of the jewel, which gleamed a dark, tainted purple in the light reflecting off its surface.

At that moment Kagome's arrow left its bow.

"I dislike fools who do not listen," Itachi said. He darted forward and ripped the baboon mask off. _"Tsukuyomi!"_ His obsidian eyes flashed blood-red as the Sharingan spun furiously, the black pinwheel capturing Naraku's attention and drawing him into the black-and-white illusion world.

Naraku was strapped to a wooden cross, with multiple clones of Itachi standing around holding flaming swords. "For the next seventy-two hours, you will be burned and stabbed with these swords," Itachi said. And he began.

"AAAAAAARGHHHH!" The Inu-Tachi jolted in shock when their main enemy yelled in pain, his blood-red eyes wide open and full of fear and anguish. What was Itachi doing to him? All he was doing was staring him in the eye with his strange red eyes . . .

Three seconds (or seventy-two hours) later Naraku dropped to the ground like a limp rag doll. He was panting heavily. "You'll pay for this," he hissed, his body enveloping in purple miasma. He rose into the sky and disappeared.

Itachi's eyes returned to normal and he staggered sideways, falling against a tree. Kagome ran to his side worriedly. "Itachi, are you okay?" she asked. "Are your eyes hurting you?"

"No," he replied. "Using the Tsukuyomi saps a lot of my strength. I'll need rest."

"We'll stop then," Kagome said. Inuyasha jolted.

"What?!" he yelled. "Like hell we're stopping for that bastard! Just have Kirara carry him!"

"Sit."

Inuyasha crashed ungracefully into the ground.

Itachi closed his eyes, but did not allow his mind to drift off to sleep. A shinobi was always aware of his surroundings, after all.

The rest of the group sighed in relief and settled themselves down in a group around the resting man. Kagome smiled at everyone and asked if they wanted anything to eat.

"What about those ninja chips, Kagome?" Shippo said, digging into her large yellow backpack. He pulled out a crinkly bag of potato chips with a triumphant squeal.

Inuyasha snatched the bag from the young fox demon's hands and tore it open to eat all the rest. But before he could get even a single chip, it was stolen from him by Kagome, who gave him a frown. "But I'm hungry!" he protested.

"Shippo is too and he got the chips first. You may have some if you ask _nicely_," Kagome reprimanded.

Inuyasha grumbled and crossed his arms. "Give me some chips," he snarled at Shippo, who stuck his tongue out.

"Nicely."

"Keh. Give me some chips, runt."

"_Nicely!"_ Kagome hissed.

"Who cares?!" Inuyasha yelled. "Just give me the damn chips already!"

"SIT!!"

And down he goes.

* * *

**I apologize for my tardiness. I'm not too stressed out yet, but rest assured I will be. My finals are coming up in three weeks, so I have some major stuff to do (a 125-pt History project + other things). I have no excuses for such short chapters, except maybe that I am struggling to come up with new ideas concerning this story. The One Piece fandom holds most of my interest now. At least I wrote something. In Microsoft Word, this is about 5 pages long and over 2000 words, which is not too bad, but kind of sad that I could only come up with this much after nearly 5 months. I'm sorry.**

**Also! I have a poll on my profile I would like you to give a vote to. The question is: Should I write a One Piece x Naruto crossover? Please vote!**

**MangaFreak15**


	6. Chapter 6: The Other Side of the Well

**Written: **July 18, 2010

**It's been like two months since my last update! Erm, my only excuses would be that I'm lazy or busy. My kittens are so darn cute, even with their faults. My dad even filmed one time when the male kitten (Oreo/Lor Mi Guy) was begging for some French toast and it was so damn adorable that I can't help but watch it over and over and over again. XD**

**Summary: **The Shikon Jewel made a mistake. A _big_ mistake. When Kagome wishes for someone to love her for herself, the Jewel gave her not a warm, cuddly teddybear, but an emotionless, cold-hearted killer.

**Warning: Inuyasha has a giant potty mouth.**

* * *

_**The Shikon's Mistake**_

_Ch. 6_

The Other Side of the Well

* * *

A week passed by in a blur, and the shard-hunting group soon found themselves back in the village where Kaede resided. Kagome decided that it was a good time to catch up on some studying (which didn't really matter much considering how much school she'd missed) and to gather up more supplies from home. However, Inuyasha was being a stubborn asshole and refusing to let her go. Again. For perhaps the thousandth time.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, ready to tear out her hair. "I need to go home and study and get supplies!"

"No, you don't!" the half-demon retorted. "We need to get a move on so we can get those shards sooner!"

"WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT THE FREAKING SHARDS WHEN I FINALLY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO HOME?"

"I DO! AND SO DOES THE REST OF THE FUCKING WORLD!"

"SIT! DAMN IT, JUST SIT! SIT, SIT, SIT!"

Alas, poor Inuyasha. He'll never learn his lesson, the stubborn idiot.

Kagome felt like kicking him in the face once for good measure, but held back. She stormed off angrily towards the well, a black aura emanating ominously from her person. Even Naraku might shrink away from her because of how dark her mood was. It was like Sesshomaru times a hundred. Inuyasha, when he looked up, could've sworn he saw a blizzard trailing behind her. Ah, the wonders of women and their mood swings . . .

Itachi followed quietly behind, curious about this "home" the girl talked of. She'd already informed him of her time-traveling abilities, but the concept was still mind-boggling. She seemed not to notice him as she viciously stomped towards the old wooden well in the forest (which was named Inuyasha's Forest, after the half-wit idiot). That was all well, if not for the fact that he wanted to see what her home was like. So he'd have to catch her attention. And fast.

Using his chakra to enhance his super-human speed, he raced in a blur ahead of her. He emerged in a clearing with an old well in the center, the rims crawling with vines. He blinked. This was also where he first met Kagome. The well . . . she'd been sitting on it. He walked over to it and seated himself on the worn edge. He looked over the edge, expecting to see something interesting. He was intrigued (not disappointed) when he saw a dark hole with long, curly vines snaking down the sides. The bottom was too dark to be seen. And she had to jump down this every time she went home? How interesting.

Kagome's loud footsteps approached at a rapid pace. Itachi turned his head to look in that direction.

Kagome entered the clearing muttering angrily under her breath about the sheer stupidity the half-demon displayed at some vital times. However she stopped her self-rant when she spotted Itachi sitting on the rim of the well, calmly waiting for her. She blushed when she realized how strange she must've sounded.

"Ah, Itachi," she began nervously. "Um, were you waiting for me?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Then a thought struck her. "Wait, you want to go to Tokyo with me?"

Itachi nodded. "I am . . . curious about this home you speak of," he worded carefully.

"Well, I guess I could take you with me," Kagome replied thoughtfully. "Are you able to go through the well or do I have to . . . uh, hold your hand?" She blushed again. Itachi thought it was amusing.

"Hn." Itachi stood up and looked over the rim. Making a quick decision, he hopped over the edge and down the well he went. However, there was no bright flash of blue light. Kagome didn't hear anything, so she frowned and looked over. He was still there.

"I guess that didn't work," she sighed. "Come back up, Itachi. I guess you'll have to hold on to me."

Her cheeks grew hot when she awkwardly laced her fingers with his (his hands were surprisingly warm, she noted). They stood on the rim of the well for a moment, glancing at each other, and then jumped.

Itachi's interest perked when a flash of bright blue light came from the well and surrounded them. There was a brief flying sensation, then one that felt as if he were traveling through water, and then they landed at the bottom of the well. The blue glow disappeared. Itachi was somewhat disappointed when he felt Kagome let go of his hand. But forget that, there would definitely be more opportunities later.

With practiced ease, Kagome shimmied up the rope ladder that had been placed against the side of the well. Itachi followed at slower pace. His keen mind took note of the differences between the Sengoku Jidai and the supposed "modern era". For one it appears that the well was now inside a wooden building of some sort. He briefly heard Kagome mention that they were in a mini-shrine.

She slid the door open and called out, "Mom! Souta! Jii-chan! I'm home!"

"Kagome-neechan! You're back!" Itachi saw a young black-haired boy drop the broom he was holding and run over to his sister.

"Kagome," an old man wearing a priest's garb trudged over to them. He spotted Itachi behind her and did something Itachi found unexpected, amusing, and also annoying. "DEMON BEGONE!" Kagome was startled when he pushed past her and slapped a piece of paper on Itachi's forehead. He twitched.

"Jii-chan . . ." both Kagome and Souta sighed. Kagome peeled the sutra off Itachi's forehead. "He isn't a demon. This guy is Uchiha Itachi, my newest companion."

"Besides," Souta piped up, "those sutras never work anyway. If he was a real demon, Kagome would've blasted him to pieces already! Right, right?"

"That wouldn't have happened, because if he was a real demon, he would've been ash on the wind a long time ago."

"As in, how long?" Souta asked.

"More than a week."

"Is something the matter? I hear voices," a female voice came from the shrine house on the left.

"Mom!"

Itachi saw a pretty woman with short curled hair approach with a delighted expression on her face. "Oh, Kagome! You're back! You're just in time; I made oden for lunch."

Kagome seemed to have been fed a mountain of caffeine as she zoomed towards the house, screaming, "ODEEEEEEEEEN!"

Itachi watched as her family burst out laughing where they stood. The woman wiped a stray tear from her eye. "That's my Kagome! Always ready for some good old homemade oden," she chuckled. She turned to him. "My, what a handsome young man! Are you Kagome's new boyfriend?"

Itachi shook his head. Souta groaned in disappointment, "You're not?"

"Oh, well, that's okay. My name is Kun-loon Higurashi, and I'm Kagome's mother. Please come in. We're about to have lunch," the woman said kindly, gesturing for him to follow them into the house. Itachi complied. He'd never eaten this . . . "oden" before.

"Hurry up, I want to eat!" Kagome called from the kitchen.

"Oh, be patient, Kagome dear," Kun-loon said, entering the kitchen. They all sat down at the table, then she realized Itachi had nowhere to sit. "I'll be back with an extra chair, you just wait here."

After the woman left, Souta turned to him and asked, "So . . . how did you meet my sis?"

* * *

After an eventful dinner full of pleasant and unpleasant talk (i.e. Kagome's many "illnesses" and a strip-down of Itachi's history), Kagome went to take a bath while directing Itachi to her room. "I think you'll fit my dad's old clothes. After I'm done, I'll go ask my mom where they are," she called as she headed down the hallway towards the bathroom.

Itachi stepped into her room and looked around in mild distaste. Bright colors and pinkness . . . Itachi wanted to run away. But Kagome wasn't as bad as her . . . taste in decoration. Itachi twitched as he sat down in her swiveling green chair and observed the sheer girlyness of her room. Her actual person belied her tastes. If Itachi ever married someone, he'd make sure that they didn't have such brightness in their house. This was just absurd.

He heard Kagome's younger brother downstairs shouting something about not letting someone beat him (he'd been introduced to video games shortly after dinner) and he heard Kagome's grandfather walking down the hall muttering about evil demon spirits.

All in all, it was a relatively normal household (just missing a father), and Itachi was reminded of how cold his own childhood had been – no, he hadn't even _had_ a childhood. But he sometimes thought it was a good thing that he was the eldest, the "perfect child". Then Sasuke could have a childhood. Ah, dear foolish little brother . . . Itachi might not have killed the clan and he would still be none the wiser. What puzzled him was that Sasuke had wanted to be like him, to catch their father's attention and be good at everything he did. It was a curse, Sasuke. One that Itachi had to bear.

The door opened and Kun-loon came in. "You may as well spend the night," she told Itachi, unraveling the bundle of blankets in her arms. She made a makeshift bed on the floor, making sure it was comfortable enough for Itachi to sleep on (not that Itachi minded sleeping on a hard surface). She fluffed up the pillow and stood back to look at her daughter's guest. "I think you'll need a change of clothes too. Wait here, I'll go get some. Then you can give me your cloak and current clothes so I can wash them for you." She walked out of the room.

She came back not too long later with a large red shirt with black stripes and a pair of dark-blue cotton pants. "You can wear these tonight and I'll go find you a pair for tomorrow," she said, handing them to Itachi. "Now change and give me your clothes when you're done. I'll be downstairs!" She walked out of the room again and shut the door.

Itachi gave a blank stare to the clothes in his hands. He'd never worn such casual clothes before, because of the Uchiha's prodigious image and their traditional high-collar shirts. He shrugged. Maybe he'll allow himself this one moment of relaxation (not that he'd drop his guard). He unbuttoned the Akatsuki cloak and draped it over the chair. He lifted up his shirt over his head and tossed that over his cloak. Picking up the red and black shirt, he pulled it over his head, marveling at the silky feeling of the semi-elastic fabric. He was about to pull the cotton black ones on when the door opened and Kagome came in, rubbing at her hair with a towel.

She blushed bright red when she realized she had just walked in on Itachi in the middle of changing. "Sorry!" she squeaked, running out the door and slamming it. Itachi just blinked, and then pulled the pants on. He didn't really care if anyone saw him naked, but it'd be more preferable to have clothes on. He took his weapons pouches from the pile of clothes and put them on Kagome's desk. Then he gathered up the clothes and walked out to hand them to Kun-loon.

Kagome was back in the room when he returned. She looked up at him and her cheeks blazed crimson as she remembered what just happened earlier. He just smirked. Inwardly, he gloated.

"I-I-I'm sorry a-about earlier," she stammered, waving her hands wildly in front of her. "I didn't look! I thought you would be just waiting for me! I had no idea! I'm sor –"

"It's fine." And Kagome shut up.

* * *

Night had fallen over the city of Tokyo. Lights from the windows of buildings and from the streets and party places gave it a dazzling look of brilliance. However, the Higurashi shrine was located in a somewhat quieter and more remote area of the bustling city. Away from all the hustle and festivities. Therefore, as Itachi stood by the window, he could only look out at the darkened streets and homes, and the glint of white and silver light caused by the moon overhead. Kagome was soundly asleep on her bed, sleeping without a care in the world.

Itachi was not much of a sleeper thanks to his shinobi life. The times he did sleep were simple naps that left him awake for hours afterwards. And he was always on guard. For now he would watch, and watch he did. He shifted from his position by the window to glance briefly at the girl he'd come to familiarize with. Despite being asleep, Itachi had to admit she was more beautiful than many of the kunoichi in his world. Hell, she'd even been able to heal his eyes, a feat which he'd thought impossible until up to that point. Mysteries always intrigued him, and she was a puzzle he had yet to fully unlock.

Itachi rested his head against the window, closing his eyes briefly. Perhaps a little rest was fine for now.

* * *

Early morning caused Kagome's mind to sluggishly resurface from the dark abyss of sleep. She groggily opened her eyes and blinked a few times to register that yes, it really was morning, and she was really awake. She sat up, a curtain of dark hair falling over her shoulders as she glanced around for her companion.

Itachi was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged and decided that he probably went downstairs for breakfast. What should they do today? she wondered as she changed out of her pajamas. With luck they'd be able to evade her three pesky friends Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, who were always bugging her about Hojo and boyfriends and her suspicious illnesses.

A shout of "how'd you do that?" pulled her from her thoughts. She listened as a murmur spoke, followed by a whine that undoubtedly belonged to her younger brother. Her mother's voice was heard, calling them for the morning meal, and she hurried to get down before Souta devoured it all (growing boys needed their nutrients after all).

After a brief squabble over the last bite of omelet and rice, Kagome started thinking about what she and Itachi could do during the day. Kun-loon had said that today was a Sunday; therefore there was no need for her to go to school. She did have stuff to study, but at the same time she contemplated showing Itachi around Tokyo (and hopefully avoid running into her friends and Hojo).

She eventually decided that a Tokyo tour was much more pleasant than a day of math equations and history.

* * *

**Gah. It is short. I was going to make this chapter longer (adding what Kagome and Itachi did during the day), but I got lazy and decided to put the fun stuff in the next chapter. Well, this is chapter six. Reviews, please? And of course, no flames.**

**Jii-chan - grandpa**

**Onee-chan - older sister**

**MangaFreak15**


End file.
